During the 2019 summer transfer window, PSG and FC Barcelona were competing for the signature of Frenkie de Jong. Close to joining Paris, the Dutch international finally decided to sign for Barça. Eric Abidal, sporting director of the Spanish club at that time, was pleased to have lured him away from PSG.
During the 2018-2019 season, Frenkie de Jong
had a great season in the jersey ofAjax Amsterdamwho will have an exceptional run in the Champions League, being eliminated in the semi-final after a breathtaking return leg and a hat-trick from the former player of the PSG,
Lucas Mourawho sent
Tottenham in the final. After this historic exercise, the midfielder was coveted by the
PSG and the FC Barcelone. While it was announced very close to joining the Rouge & Bleu,
Frenkie de Jong finally decided to sign for the Catalan club. Sports director of Barça at that time, Eric Abidal did not hide his joy at having been able to convince one of the promises of world football to sign with the Catalans rather than PSG.
See also: Agent De Jong explains that Tuchel “was literally in tears” when he chose Barça
“Barça is the institution that signs you, it’s not the coach”
« The recruitment I am most proud of is
Frenkie de Jong. I know that at the time, he had an agreement with quite a few clubs, notably PSG, launches the former player in an interview given to Free Football. And I knew, during the match
Real Madrid / Ajax Amsterdamwhere he had been huge, that we really had to have him in our stable. But there you go, I think that in this profession, the important thing is information, and his dream was to play
Barça. He told me: “There you go, I didn’t speak with the coach of the Barça. This is certainly why I made the decision to go to
Paris Saint-Germainbecause I had spoken to
Thomas Tuchel. » And I just said to him: “The Barçait’s the institution that signs you, it’s not the coach. And the second thing, at the price of the transfer amount, know that you will be an indisputable holder. » Players always have this doubt. It wasn’t easy, but we managed to achieve our goals.. »
